"Chadron alone has hauled over 1,300 loads of tree limbs to the city dump," Davis said, "but more concerning to me are the livestock losses....which I believe will be massive. One rancher lost 350 of his 400 cows -- conservatively a $500,000 loss but emotionally overwhelming and devastating."

"These people need prayer and they need help," Davis said.

The wet heavy snow was driven by gale-force northwest winds. Cattle piled up in pockets or drifted with the wind until they collapsed from exhaustion or became tangled in fences.

The storm has been named "Atlas" by the National Weather Service.

Many South Dakota and neighboring states ranchers lost unbelievable numbers of livestock. They are calling "Atlas" the storm of the century. Not only cattle but numerous horses were lost, according a facebook page "Atlas Blizzard Ranch Relief."

Across South Dakota, snow totals reached nearly five feet in some isolated areas, NBC reports.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality are working with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency to get a definitive number of cattle losses, Gov. Dave Heinemanís spokeswoman Jen Rae Wang said Tuesday.

The Department of Agriculture asks Nebraska producers who suffered livestock losses to keep detailed records of those losses, as they begin to assess the damage from the weekend.